Etymologically
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flamma

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ˈfɫam.ma][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈflam.ma][1]

Forms

flamma f (genitive flammae); first declension[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Italic *flagmā, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *bʰl̥g-mh₂- (“flame”), from the root of flagrō “to blaze”.[2][1][3] The OLD compares Ancient Greek φλέγμα (phlégma, “flame, inflammation”) and Latvian blāzma (“gleam”).[4] Isidore of Seville explained it from flātus, the blast of the bellows.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

De Vaan dates it from Naevius.[2][6] Köbler dates Naevius c. 235–200 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant a flame, usually in the plural or collectively, as in Cato and Lucretius, fire as destroyer, as Ennius' shrines burnt by flame, a conflagration, and a torch or firebrand.[4] It was the fire of the sun and stars, and a fiery gleam, as Virgil's helmet spewing flames.[4] Livy has flammā ferrōque “with fire and sword”.[7]

In Medieval Latin it was also the heat of fever, a star, and the fire of strife or of divine grace.[8] It survives in Italian fiamma and Spanish llama.[1] Through Anglo-French flaume it is the source of English flame in the mid-14th century, and through Provençal flama of English flamingo.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it.[2][6]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius uses it of shrines destroyed by fire.[4][6]
  • 234–149 BC – Cato uses it of a flame.[4][6]
  • mid-14th century – English flame is recorded.[9]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A flame.[4]
  2. Fire (as destroyer).[4]
  3. A blaze, conflagration.[4]
  4. A torch, firebrand.[4]
  5. The fire of the sun or stars.[4]
  6. A fiery gleam.[4]

Word family

  • flammābundus
  • flammāris
  • flammārius
  • flammeus
  • flammicomans
  • flammicomus
  • flammicremus
  • flammifer
  • flammigena
  • flammiger
  • flammigero
  • flammigō

Usage notes

Flamma was also a Roman cognomen, in Pliny the Elder and Tacitus.[7][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  6. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Lexicon mediae et infimae Latinitatis Polonorum (1953–), Kraków: Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN; electronic ed. elexicon.scriptores.pl
  9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com